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Cork Airport(Travel service go around)

Some parts of Beijing I found quite sleazy in the evenings, and there is a lot of poverty there, plus the sanitary conditions in the bars leaves a lot to be desired. We found a Chinese restaurant that opened 24 hrs a day and the food was great. It’s amazing how quick you can learn to use chopsticks when you’re hungry. The only down side was they served one dish at a time and the last dish to be served was the rice. The food in the hotel was excellent and there was music most nights, the staff really looked after you, apparently  when staff are taken on at most of the hotels they are all given English names, its quite strange calling a Chinese man James or Frederick.

Tiananmen Square was my next stop, there is quite a big police presence here, there are also lots of locals trying to sell you souvenirs and they tend to follow you around, I think that is one of the reasons there is quite a big police presence. China values tourists therefore it is a very serious crime if you commit an offence against a Tourist, knowing this makes you feel quite safe walking around.

There were three restaurants in the hotel and the food was absolutely fabulous, it was so cheap we were eating 3 and 4 courses every night.

The bedrooms were really small with two single beds, a T.V, shower, table and chairs. You could help yourself to hot drinks and rolls with ham or cheese for breakfast, it was a bit of a comedown from all the nice hotels we had in China, but for 30 euros each you could put up with it, a lot of people bring in there duty free and sit and drink in the hotel, this is a good idea because the drink is very expensive in Copenhagen.

I stayed in the Bell Tower Hotel which was centrally located, the hotel wasn’t as nice as the Plaza and the staff were very slow, but the rooms were very nice with the usual Tea/Coffee making Facilities, T.V with satellite channels and lounge area, the breakfast was self service and very nice.

General information

The silk market is the best place to shop in Beijing, you get great copies dirt cheap but you have to haggle. There are loads of cafes and bars outside the silk market, its great sitting outside because you can have a great crack with the locals trying to sell you odds and ends and the atmosphere was really good. I have to say considering the language barrier, the Chinese are the friendliest people you could ever meet they really can’t do enough for you.

In summary a great trip organized by Barter Travel in Cork – www.travelnet.ie

After leaving the Museum we drove along the fields where the driver stopped and purchased fresh fruit which the locals were actually selling straight from the fields.

We traveled with Air China from Xian to Shanghai, this took around 2 hrs. Once again we had a nerve wrecking ride in a taxi from the Airport to the hotel. We stayed in the Holiday Inn in downtown Shanghai. We upgraded to Business in this hotel which only cost us about 20 euro extra. The room was fabulous with all the usual mod cons and a too die for rainforest shower. Business included own floor check in, use of the business room, breakfast and free alcoholic dinks between 6 and 8pm every evening with finger food, naturally we made the most of it every evening.

Before you enter the Forbidden City there is a huge courtyard with various stalls and souvenirs for sales, you can also dress up in authentic Chinese attire and have your photographs taken, this is really worth doing, the photograph is covered with a hard plastic covering with the date printed on the bottom and it’s really cheap, around 4 euros for two photographs.

Our driver picked us up the following morning to take us to the Airport, what a lovely guy he was. We checked in and sat down for a coffee, we paid 20.00 euros for 4 cups of coffee. You have to get done somewhere down the line.

Tiananmen Tower is the entrance into the Forbidden City, You pay a small fee to walk around the Tower, and it’s really worth doing because you get some great photographs from this vantage point with the square behind you.

The Chinese Embassy in Dublin only opens for a few hours a day, and they will not accept postal applications for visas. The visa is put directly onto your passport, there is no need for you to attend personally, anyone can do this for you.

Entry into the Forbidden City was around 15 euros, I paid for the slightly dearer entrance fee because you were given a tape and earphones, so every part of the forbidden palace you entered was explained .It took about an hour and a half to walk the length of the Forbidden City, you go in one end and out the other. A deposit is needed for the tape and earphones but they will accept your hotel key as a guarantee.

When you leave the museum you are swarmed by locals trying to sell you anything from cat skins to miniature Terracotta Soldiers, the guide told us not to touch anything because once you touch you are expected to buy.

Like most people I read about the Terracotta Soldiers but to actually see them it really is unbelievable, the detail that went into each and everyone of them, it really is something to see.

I traveled to the Great Wall by taxi, it took about 30 minutes from the centre of Beijing, the driver will wait for you, this is quite cheap if there are a few of you to share the fare, we passed the new Disneyland that  is being built for the 2007 Olympics. I lost about a stone in weight from the taxi ride and needed a good few drinks to calm the nerves when I returned to my hotel.

We passed several markets on our way back to the hotel selling anything from food to clothes; we didn’t stop because we were saving ourselves for Shanghai. The funniest sight was a man on a three wheel bike carrying a sofa with a woman sitting on the sofa. You wouldn’t believe what people carried on their bikes.

Xian

The Centre of Xian is very new; there are loads of designer shops which are very expensive. Eating out is mainly fast foods, the likes of McDonalds will cost you 2 euros for a meal, there are loads of stalls in the old part of Xian selling hot food but you wouldn’t know what you would be eating. Xian is not a place to shop; you would only go there to see The Terracotta Soldiers. I stayed in Xian for 2 nights and that was more than enough time.

Hotels in Dublin

The entrance fee to the museum is 8 euros, the money goes into restoring the soldiers, and at the moment only a third of the Solders have been unearthed. It will take many more years to unearth all of them, plus it is so expensive.

The Great Wall was the highlight for me; the wall is very steep in places if you have trouble walking you can get cable cars that take you over the wall. At the entrance to the wall there are lots of restaurants and coffee bars and plenty of stalls selling clothes and fake designer wares. Every so often during the day, people go around on stilts dressed in various disguises and you can pose for a few photographs.

Shanghai is a shoppers paradise, they have a brilliant outdoor market that sells all the fake designer brands dirt cheap, again you have to haggle but you could spend every day here its so big and that’s exactly what we did. There was a Starbucks coffee shop at the back of the market where we would all meet up every two hours for a break. There was a hotel off the coffee shop were you could have your hair and nails etc done. One day I got my hair cut, had a pedicure and manicure plus a back massage all for 20 euros.

Shanghai is also the best place for the night life. We found a great restaurant called Sashas; the restaurant had a beer garden where you could also dine. When the food was finished it would turn into an outdoor club.

Shanghai.

Beijing

There are loads of restaurants and bars in Shanghai, you would never be bored, so this should be your last port of call when visiting China.

The hotel was local enough, but with the Taxis being so cheap it didn’t really matter, average taxi fares were 2 to 3 euros. Taxis are fine for short journeys but for long distance I would recommend alternative transport, reason being they drive very fast and very close to other traffic, I was in about four near accidents.

We gave ourselves plenty of time when leaving for the Airport for our return flight back to Dublin, but check in was so slow plus all the different checks you had to go through, we just about made the flight.

I flew to China with Scandinavian Airways via Copenhagen on the 15th September, 2005. Our first port of call was Beijing. I stayed in the Central Plaza which is owned by Holiday Inn. This was a fantastic hotel which included an indoor swimming pool and a Gym, sauna and massage, it also offers a baby sitting service, a business centre and most importantly to any Chinese person,  a karaoke bar.

I traveled with Air China from Beijing to Xian. This took around 1hr and 45 mins, you get a small meal and tea and coffee on board. It was a 25min transfer from the Airport to the Hotel. When I got out of the Airport the taxis were all lined up and our taxi was a V.I.P. car, we were all really tired so we just got into it thinking we were going to be fleeced, but it was so cheap we hired the Driver and car for the next two days.

On day two our driver picked us up as arranged, even though he couldn’t speak a word of English there was a lot of sign language and laughing going on, and we all got on very well. He drove us to the Terracotta Soldiers and found us an English speaking guide, the guide was with us for over 2 hours and he only charged us 14 euros in total, needless to say we gave him a huge tip. The grounds around the museum are spectacular, surrounded by mountains and countryside. One of the two Guys who found the Soldiers lives across the road from the museum and lives a very simple life; he visits the museum quite often.

All in all China was a great experience and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I enjoyed every minute of it and believe me you haven’t shopped until you’ve shopped in China.

I spent four nights in Beijing, which was just right.

We had a one night stop in Copenhagen; we stayed at the Zleep hotel, two minutes in a taxi from the airport. The hotel was a bit like a hostel, there was a seating area with T.V on the ground floor where you could help yourself to tea, coffee or soft drinks.

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